Comcast and Charter agree not to compete against each other in wireless

Enlarge (credit: Comcast)

It's no secret that big cable companies don't like to compete against each other, as it's more profitable to be the only company in town than to build networks in places already dominated by another cable provider.

But for Comcast and Charter, the two biggest cable companies in the US, that aversion to competition is going to extend beyond cable networks and into the mobile market. The companies today announced an agreement to cooperate in their plans to sell mobile phone service, an agreement that also forbids each company from making wireless mergers and acquisitions without the other's consent for one year.

"That agreement could stoke Wall Street speculation among investors and analysts that the two largest US cable companies together could decide to make a play for a carrier like T-Mobile US Inc. or Sprint Corp.," wrote The Wall Street Journal, which reported the Comcast/Charter agreement hours before it was announced. "Neither company as a single entity could buy another wireless carrier for that time period as a result of that agreement without the other's blessing or involvement."

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